News came at the end of this week that Ian Pearson, the Treasury minister, will not be defending his notional Labour majority of 3,222 at the general election in Dudley South.

The Birmingham Post notes that he has cited the long periods he spent away from home for the recent breakdown of his marriage and in a letter to local Labour members he said that it was "time to move on and do other things, including getting a better balance between my working and personal life".

Mr Pearson's decision to step down will be a further boost to the Conservative candidate, Chris Kelly (pictured), who has been in place since September 2007. He needs a swing of 4.5% to gain the seat at the coming general election and you can read more about him and his campaign on his website.

Pedestrians and drivers using Kingswinford High Street in Dudley are being confronted by the biggest political poster in the UK - at least we think it is the biggest poster.

The poster is the brainchild of the seat's Conservative candidate, Chris Kelly. Chris has issued the following statement:

"This is an innovative means of communicating with the people of Dudley South for which no taxpayer funded Parliamentary 'communications allowance' or trade union funds have been used. I want to make myself easily accessible to local residents which is why I have put my contact details on the posters. Residents can send me their views via my website, tellChris.com."